Angela Guerrero, the only British-born local councillor, was preparing to bow out from local politics yesterday after her Partido Popular in Calvia was knocked into second place in the shock local election result on Sunday by the opposition socialists.
A new left-wing coalition led by the Spanish Socialist Party(PSOE) and with the support of the anti-austerity party, Podemos and the left-wing nationalists, Mes, is expected to govern Calvia for the next four years.
Angela Guerrero said that she was disappointed at the local elections result, which saw her party lose thousands of votes, but added that she was leaving politics “on a high” and thanked the foreign community in the municipality for all their support over the last four years. She estimated that at least 1,000 non-Spanish residents in Calvia had voted, which was “excellent,” she said.
The fact that Angela Guerrero had been placed at number 14 on the Partido Popular´s electoral list in Calvia had initially caused some outrage because the party would have needed a landslide victory for the British born-councillor to take her seat in the council chamber. Some even questioned whether the Partido Popular in Calvia were even interested in the foreign vote, an allegation which was dismissed by the Partido Popular´s candidate for Mayor, Jose Manuel Ruiz, in an interview with the Bulletin.
Only a few hundred votes separated the Spanish Socialist Party and the Partido Popular but it was still a crushing defeat for the party which has governed in Calvia for the last 12 years.
“Serving the foreign community in Calvia has been a fantastic experience and Iwould like to thank one and all. It has been a pleasure. And as regards to the future I think I will take a break for a while and decide on my options,” Angela said.
The Spanish Socialist Party in Calvia has said that they will continue with the Foreigner´s Department in the Calvia town hall and they plan some changes that will be even more effective, according to one of their spokespersons during the election campaign. Later this week Ruiz will be meeting with officials from his party to plan for the next local elections in 2019.